Thanks fellas, now I will reconsider my original thought of using Tung Oil which is what I had originally finished the outside of the gun; (it soaks into the wood). I have experienced a small amount of wood rot about the size of dimes (rain, barrel cleaning, oil, etc) over many years of not removing the barrel periodically for inspection and apparently water pooled up in couple of low spots...which I am going to fill with epoxy after scraping out the small amount of rot. This flinter has survived 45 years of use all over south Texas. The bbl. underside also had a very small amount of rust is a couple of spots. I am not about to give it up...it is still a beautiful gun...kinda like old Willies guitar.
Modified: Just thinking of my above comment about the age of my .50 flinter...please don't misunderstand, I can afford a newer rifle many times over, but this gun is like an old pair of boots.......it just fits!